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Second Act or Accidental Entrepreneur

§ May 30th, 2026 § Filed under Uncategorized § No Comments

As you may know, I retired from the UT San Antonio SBDC in November. Two days later, I started a contract position with Launch SA as a…you guessed it…business advisor. I miss the SBDC team, but I love the team I work with now.

Since I have some time available (four-day weekends), I thought I would start my newsletter up again. The feedback I received from that first email was overwhelmingly positive. Of those who voted, the two topics that were most popular were The “Second Act” Business Strategy and The Accidental Entrepreneur. 

These overlap quite a bit so I think I’ll combine them. 

I am definitely in my second act (or maybe third or fourth, I’ve lost count). If you are in the same situation, wanting to change careers or getting ready to retire and not sure what you want to do, let me offer some advice. 

Before I retired, I uploaded the address of my LinkedIn page and my website to Gemini, my current favorite AI platform. My prompt was “I want to start a new career. Review https://www.linkedin.com/in/crystaldarby/ and https://crystaldarby.com/, and determine activities or jobs that would fit my skills.” 

You can add sentences to that prompt to limit the choices, like “leave out anything having to do with ____” or “include anything that I can do remotely.” 

If you need the business to be profitable, write an additional prompt similar to “Of these choices, which would have the lowest startup costs and which are more likely to be profitable?” 

If you have a product or service that you have been doing as a hobby or on a very limited basis, you might want to use “I want to turn my love of _____ into a profitable business. How should I start?” If you have already started, “I am selling (example: my services as an educational consultant or handcrafted pottery). What should I do to make this into a profitable business?”  

You may want to use additional AI platforms (ChatGPT, Perplexity, Claude, etc.) to see if more ideas pop up. 

I explored various AI platforms to brainstorm overarching themes for this newsletter, selecting the best ideas and adapting titles to match my personal perspective. Interestingly, the concept for “The Accidental Entrepreneur” was something I hadn’t considered until it emerged from that process, and I think it’s a fantastic addition.

Now, I’d love to hear from you! Please let me know if you found this issue helpful or if you’ve had a chance to try any of these suggestions yourself.

Reconnecting

§ May 12th, 2026 § Filed under small business, training § No Comments

I’m starting my newsletter again. I used to pick an overall theme and then write blog articles on that theme. I’m contemplating starting off with one of these themes:

  1. Modern Communication for Results – focusing on high-stakes professional writing and interpersonal skills, updated for the digital and hybrid work era.
  2. The “Second Act” Business Strategy – a series-based approach aimed at individuals transitioning careers or starting a business later in life.
  3. The Human Side of Small Business – business as a human experience, not just tactics.
  4. Advising is a Two-Way Street – what my clients have taught me.
  5. The Accidental Entrepreneur – aimed at people who have become business owners because they were good at a skill, not because they studied entrepreneurship.
  6. Generations at Work – communication, workplace, and marketing issues with different generations

Do any of these interest you? If so, I’d love to get input from you on these or other topics. Post a comment or email me at crystallizations@gmail.com and let me know.